'67 Fairlane427 Lightweight Clone
The Ford factory intended for the XL trim option to be a high-end laborious decoration for the classiest of car owners. Bob Stoorza of Beverly Hills, Florida, didn't see it that way. He saw it as junk that he had to remove, and then weld up any evidence of its existence. It was more than just the trim for Bob; the 289ci small-block Ford had to go as well. Since the day he got this Fairlane, he knew exactly what he wanted it to be when it grew up. He didn't want a luxury show car with all the bells and whistles, he wanted a hard-core, high-horsepower race car. The lightweight look was farfetched for his FE powered Fairlane, so the next best thing was to build it like a factory race car. He went with a vintage correct off-white with custom graphics on the door to give it the age to look authentic.

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Alongside the paint and graphics, Bob wanted to make the mechanics resemble that era's race cars as well. The slotted wheels with sand-blasted centers and the slapper bars aid to that vibe. Though it's usually very far from car shows and cruises, this Fairlane gets quite a bit of attention. The appeal of a seemingly real race car with a big motor, three pedals, and tires for traction is timeless.

BY THE NUMBERS

1967 FORD FAIRLANE

Bob Stoorza • Beverly Hills, FL

ENGINE

Type:

390ci big-block Ford FE

Block:

factory iron

Cylinder heads:

390 GT rebuilt

Camshaft:

Crower hydraulic, .521/.546-inch lift

Valvetrain:

COMP roller rockers

Induction:

Blue Thunder dual-quad carbs

Ignition:

Pertronix Billet distributor,

Moroso wires

Exhaust:

Crites 2-inch primary headers,

Flowmaster Super 44 mufflers

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DRIVETRAIN

Transmission/shifter:

T5 5-speed manual,

Centerforce clutch, Hurst shifter

Rear axle:

Ford 9-inch, TrackLoc, 3.98 gears

CHASSIS

Front suspension:

KYB shocks,

all-new components

Rear suspension:

KYB shocks, traction bars

Brakes:

disc/drum

BODY/PAINT

Body:

shaved trim, Crites fiberglass hood,

powdercoated bumper

Paint:

Ford Wimbledon White

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WHEELS/TIRES

Wheels:

Weld Rodlits and Anson Slots,

15x5 and 15x7

Tires:

M/T Sportsman and Pro Trac,

26x7.5x15 and 275/60R15

'69 GTXRevived & Revved
"I have been a lifetime Mopar guy. As a kid, I swept the showroom floor and washed cars at our family's Chrysler/Plymouth dealership in Utah," says owner, Kelly Painter. There are two types of people in the muscle car world: People who own Mopars, and people who wish they could own Mopars. Kelly is the more fortunate of the two.

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This '69 GTX was signed away by his salesman father back when it was new, but it wouldn't stay away forever. For whatever reason, the owners traded her in for a brand-new '77 Chrysler Cordoba. The car spent the next decade in storage, waiting for some attention from an appreciative owner. It wasn't until 1988 that Kelly was able to rescue the car. The original owners weren't as kind to the car as they should have been, so there was a mess to clean up. The 20 years of abuse and neglect did a number on it.

Kelly gave it a whole new life. He got PHR contributor Steve Dulcich to put a fresh 572ci stroker motor together to replace the tired factory 440. The new motor makes over 700 hp and propels the car into the low 11s at the drag strip on pump gas. One pass was all he could make because his bone-stock-looking interior didn't house the rollbar needed to run these numbers. Aside from the track, this car spends a lot of time on the street, where it was built to live.

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BY THE NUMBERS

1969 PLYMOUTH GTX

Kelly Painter • Gilbert , AZ

Performance: 716 hp

11.3-second quarter-mile

ENGINE

Type:

572ci big-block

Block:

Mopar Performance Mega RB

Oiling:

MP high-volume oil pump, 6-quart pan

Rotating assembly:

stroker crankshaft,

Eagle H-beam rods,

10.5:1 Ross pistons

Cylinder heads:

Indy CNC-ported

SR 285cc aluminum

Camshaft:

COMP solid, .634-inch lift

Valvetrain:

COMP roller rockers, 1.6:1

Induction:

ported Indy single-plane manifold,

1,000-cfm Holley

Ignition:

MP electronic ignition

Cooling:

custom four-row aluminum radiator

Fuel system:

Carter high-volume pump

Exhaust:

TTI 21/8-inch primary headers,

TTI three-inch mandrel-bent exhaust,

Flowmaster 40 Series mufflers

Fasteners:

ARP

DRIVETRAIN

Transmission:

Torque Flite 727,

Hughes 2,500-rpm converter

Rear axle:

Mopar 8 3/4;-inch 3.23 sure grip

with custom axles, narrowed housing

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CHASSIS

Brakes:

Master Power 11-inch rotors,

single-piston calipers

Body/paint

Body:

By Jesse Painter of Painter's

Auto Body in Queen Creek, AZ,

AAR fiberglass Six Pack hood

Paint:

Glasurit Chrome Yellow

single-stage urethane paint

Wheels/tires

Wheels:

SS Cragar, 15x7 and 15X10

Tires:

BFG Radial T/A, 235/60R15, 275/60R15

'71 El CamaroFrankenstein's Beauty
You have two major necessities with a muscle car: style and functionality. Owner A.J. Porche loved his '71 El Camino. It served its purpose, it rode well, was quick enough, and hauled whatever load he needed to carry. The only thing lacking was the beauty of one of his other favorite cars, a '71 Camaro.

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A.J. had this project on the to-do list for 34 years before he decided to just get it started. He had already gotten the bulk of the car built with his wife, Jenny. Jenny was pretty handy with the sewing machine so she assigned the interior task to herself and impressed A.J. with the results.

Though A.J. is 70 years old, you would never know by the amount of work he's got into this car. He has done everything himself including fabricating headlight buckets out of Jell-O mold tins, since the originals were long gone. He has altered the suspension geometry for high-speed stability, and has done what he could to lighten the frontend.

His garage is filled with evidence of his 55-year term building cars. His latest speed-freak project was a '91 Camaro bought from an insurance auction. The previous owner had totaled it while trying to run from the police. A.J. transformed it into a Bonneville Salt Flats car, but that's a story for another time.

BY THE NUMBERS

1971 EL CAMINO/CAMARO

A.J. Porche, 70 • Harper, TX

Performance: 495 hp

12.5-second quarter-mile

ENGINE

Type:

383ci small-block Chevy

Block:

Chevy dump truck, iron

Rotating assembly:

Venolia forged pistons,

Carillo rods, Scat crank

Cylinder heads:

ported and polished,

2.02-inch intake valves

Camshaft:

TRW

Valvetrain:

super-duty adjustable pushrods,

Cloyes timing gear/chain

Induction:

750-cfm Quadrajet

Ignition:

HEI distributor, Mallory controller

DRIVETRAIN

Transmission/shifter:

TH350, B&M shifter

Rear axle:

GM 12-bolt

with Strange axles and posi

MISCELLANEOUS

Rear suspension:

Skyjacker lift rear,

air shocks

Body:

'71 Camaro front clip

Paint:

Rust-Oleum enamel white

Wheels:

factory steel with smoothie caps

Tires:

Dunlop GT Qualifier

Mothers Picture Perfect Award
This is the place to show off your pride and joy to the rest of mankind, so we figure those readers who took the time to capture a really cool shot of their hot rod should get a little bonus. Mothers agreed, and decided to come to the party with some freebies for the best picture submitted to PHR.

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Each month, the editors at PHR will sift through the images and pick the one with the best composition, lighting, and overall quality. The winner will get a cool assortment of Mothers products to keep his or her ride looking nice and shiny. Mail us a photograph or, if you're a modern guy, email us a digital image. Remember that digital images need to be 300 dpi, and the bigger the image, the larger it can run. Also, be sure to include info on the car, along with your name and address. Good luck!